Creamy, fresh, light, and flavorful, Avocado Gazpacho Soup is simply a summertime delight! Naturally gluten-free with easy vegan and dairy-free adaptations.
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Say "hello, summer!" with a refreshing and creamy soup that won't heat up the kitchen, features fresh in-season vegetables, and is super simple to prepare.
Avocado Gazpacho is low on fuss but big on flavor, making it a perfect option for warm summer dinners on the patio, poolside lunches, picnics in the park, and anytime the craving strikes!
What is Gazpacho?
Gazpacho is a blended cold soup made from fresh vegetables, aromatics, and herbs. The soup is made from fresh vegetables and is not cooked during its preparation.
Though the most common form of gazpacho is tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, peppers, and garlic, you can make gazpacho with many other combinations of fruits and vegetables. This gazpacho features cucumber, avocado, fresh dill, lemon, and garlic.
Why This Avocado Gazpacho Recipe Works
- Nutritious: Featuring avocado, cucumber, olive oil, and lemon juice, this cucumber gazpacho soup recipe is one you can feel great about enjoying.
- Fresh: Whether you are highlighting ingredients from a summer Farmer's market haul or making use of extra avocados before they go bad, this gazpacho with cucumber is light, bright, and is fantastic for showcasing fresh summer produce.
- Simple Preparation: All you need for this recipe is a blender or food processor and a few common kitchen tools and the recipe will be ready in just 5 easy steps!
- Cooling: If you love hot soup but don't eat it in the hot summer months, this creamy chilled gazpacho is the perfect option for you.
- Delicious: Though this avocado cucumber gazpacho soup recipe is simple to make, it is certainly not simple on flavor. With fresh dill, garlic, lemon zest, and creme fraiche, it's big on flavor and a true delight.
Ingredients
- Avocado: Ripe avocados are best for this avocado cucumber soup! To tell if an avocado is ripe, gently press the skin with the pad of your thumb. If the avocado just starts to give, it is ripe. If an avocado is mushy when pressed or is starting to develop brown spots on the skin, it is overly ripe.
- Cucumber: English cucumbers, or the type of cucumbers that are longer, thinner, and have fewer seeds, are the best variety for this recipe.
- Green Onions: Also known as scallions. You will just need two of them. Trim the onions before adding them to the blender.
- Lemons: Or, 1 zested and juiced lemon + 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Fresh Dill: Adds herbal sweet notes to the avocado soup.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Extra virgin will contribute a full, savory, and peppery flavor. If you don't have extra virgin, however, light olive oil will work.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic is best! Peel and trim the garlic before adding it to the food processor or blender.
- Creme Fraiche: Adds a light creaminess and bright finish to the recipe.
- Cooked Shrimp: An optional garnish for the cucumber soup! See the recipe notes section below for how to cook the shrimp.
Substitutions
- Cucumbers: If you cannot find English cucumbers or only have the American slicing variety, they can substitute. You may want to scoop out the seeds from the cucumber, however, as American-slicing cucumbers have a much higher pulp and seed content.
- Creme Fraiche: Sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt can work in place of the creme fraiche in a pinch!
- Dill: Fresh dill is best for this recipe, because of its uniquely light and sweet flavor, but 1 teaspoon dried dill can substitute if needed.
How to Make Avocado Gazpacho Soup
It's really not hard to make the best gazpacho. Here's how:
For the complete recipe and measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1: In a food processor or blender, combine garlic, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
Step 2: Peel and remove seeds from the avocados and peel the cucumber. Add the remaining ingredients to the blender.
Step 3: Blend the soup until smooth.
Step 4: Optional: for a perfectly smooth soup, strain through a fine mesh sieve.
Step 5: Chill the soup covered for two hours, then serve drizzled with additional olive oil, creme fraiche, finely chopped dill, and shrimp.
Recipe Pro-Tips
- For A Shorter Chilling Time: Chill the ingredients before making the avocado gazpacho. This will shorten the chilling time to just 1 hour.
- How to Cook the Shrimp: Steam the shrimp in a basket over hot water until the shrimp are bright pink and firm (but not tough), or for 2-4 minutes. Alternatively, you can also thaw already-cooked shrimp.
- Salt to Taste: Salt will brighten the flavors of the avocado and cucumber, so salt the cucumber gazpacho to taste before serving.
Recipe Variations
- Chunky Gazpacho: To make a chunky gazpacho recipe, blend the garlic, salt, lemon zest, lemon juice, green onions, and olive oil first until smooth. Then add in the avocados and cucumber and pulse or blend until your desired level of chunkiness.
- Spicy Gazpacho: Add a little zip to the gazpacho by blending all or part of a jalapeño into the soup. Add the jalapeño seeds for extra spice; remove them if you don't want as much heat in your cucumber soup!
Serving Suggestions
This cucumber gazpacho recipe is best served after chilling for two hours. Drizzle it with additional high-quality olive oil, creme fraiche, steamed shrimp, and flaky sea salt to taste!
Serve this cool soup as a summer appetizer with almost any of your favorite grilled dinners. You can also serve it on its own for a satisfying light dinner by topping it with croutons or serving it with warm crusty bread!
Dietary Adaptations
This recipe is naturally gluten-free and vegetarian (if served without the shrimp). To make a dairy-free and vegan cucumber gazpacho soup, omit the creme fraiche from the recipe and serve the cucumber avocado gazpacho without the shrimp.
Storage Directions
This soup is best enjoyed immediately after chilling. It is not suited for storage, as the texture and color of the soup will disintegrate.
This recipe makes 3-4 servings. If that is too much soup for you to consume fresh, simply halve the recipe and follow the recipe directions as listed.
Recipe FAQs
Gazpacho is meant to be enjoyed as a summer appetizer or soup as a way to make the most of summer produce and enjoy soup in the hot summer months without overheating.
Though I am not a registered dietitian or physician and cannot say with authority whether or not gazpacho is healthy or not, I can say that it is a nutritious recipe that is full of vegetables and olive oil. There are many proven benefits of olive oil (source), and vegetables provide fiber, minerals, and other-good-for-you micronutrients.
The differences between salmorejo vs. gazpacho are minimal, though they technically are different dishes. Salmorejo is a cool soup made by blending tomatoes, bread, garlic, and olive oil together, whereas gazpacho is a blended cool soup frequently made with tomatoes, but not always. Furthermore, gazpacho is not usually made with bread.
Tools Needed to Make This Recipe
- Cutting Board
- Chef's Knife
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Vegetable Peeler
- Lemon Zester
- Food Processor or High-Speed Blender
More Vegetable Recipes
Thank you for making Avocado Gazpacho Soup! If you enjoyed it, please follow me on Instagram @mindfulcooks and tag your recipe creations with #mindfulcooks!
Recipe
Avocado Gazpacho
Ingredients
- 1 clove garlic peeled
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 2 ripe avocados small
- 1 english cucumber
- 2 green onions
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons creme fraiche
- For Garnish medium shrimp, cooked and cooled
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, combine garlic, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
- Peel and remove seeds from the avocados and peel the cucumber. Add the remaining ingredients to the blender.
- Blend the soup until smooth.
- Optional: for a perfectly smooth soup, strain through a fine mesh sieve.
- Chill the soup covered for two hours, then serve drizzled with additional olive oil, creme fraiche, finely chopped dill, and shrimp.
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